How Powerful Is Your Passport?
The multinational financial advisory firm Arton Capital has just unveiled a new online passport index that lets users view passports sorted by colour, location and “passport power rank”.
The passport power rank is calculated according to how many countries that nation’s passport allows you to visit either by buying a visa upon arrival, or without a visa at all. Not surprisingly, the USA and the UK are tied for first, with passport holders being able to visit 147 countries without a visa, followed by France, Korea and Germany tied for second place.
Surprisingly, Australia doesn’t even crack the top five – we can only visit 138 countries without a visa, and are tied for ninth place with the Czech Republic and Hungary. To add insult to injury, Australia comes in just behind New Zealand, which has a ranking of 139. You win this round, kiwis.
The top 10 most “powerful” passports
1. USA, UK (147)
2. France, South Korea, Germany (145)
3. Italy, Sweden (144)
4. Denmark, Singapore, Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands (143)
5. Switzerland (142)
6. Spain, Norway, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal (141)
7. Canada, Greece, Austria, Malaysia (140)
8. New Zealand (139)
9. Australia, Czech Republic, Hungary (138)
10. Poland, Slovakia (137)
(Lead image: Jpmatth/Flickr)
